Glossary

Category: R

  • Retrolental fibroplasia (RLF)

    Scar tissue behind the lens of the eye, preventing light rays from reaching the retina. Caused by the administration of excessive oxygen to premature infants. May result in blindness. A condition in which fibrous tissue develops behind the lens of the eye, resulting in blindness. A condition in which a mass of scar tissue forms…

  • Retrograde ejaculation

    A backward ejaculation in males into the posterior urethra and urinary bladder instead of into the anterior urethra and out through the meatus of the penis. It occurs in men with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and some types of prostate surgery. Ejaculation in which the seminal fluid is discharged into the bladder rather than through the…

  • Retroactive inhibition

    The interference effect that present learning can have on the retention of previously learned material, retroactive facilitation; proactive inhibition.  

  • Retroactive facilitation

    The review of material or the discovery of new explicit relationships resulting in greater retention of a previous experience, retroactive inhibition.  

  • Retroactive amnesia

    A memory deficit suffered after a head injury or concussion in which the person loses memory of some period prior to the injury.  

  • Retrieval cue

    A stimulus that helps to retrieve a memory trace.  

  • Retrieval

    The process of searching for some item in memory and finding it. When retrieval fails, this may or may not mean that the relevant memory trace is absent; it simply means that it is inaccessible. In psychology, the process of bringing stored information to the conscious level.  

  • Retirement

    The act of leaving paid employment. The retiree, upon reaching a predetermined age, is usually provided some regular payment such as a pension and/or Social Security payment, flexible retirement; mandatory retirement.  

  • Retinoblastoma

    Retinoblastoma

    A malignant tumor in the retina. A rare tumour in the retina, affecting infants. Retinoblastoma is a rare form of childhood cancer in which malignant tumor(s) originate in the retina of the eye. The majority (75%) of cases are unilateral retinoblastoma, in which tumors develop in one eye. Tumors that are found in both eyes…

  • Retinitis pigmentosa

    A hereditary condition resulting from a break in the choroid. A hereditary condition in which inflammation of the retina can result in blindness. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) or “more appropriately named rod-cone generalized dystrophy, is a varied group of disorders characterized by. . . [progressive] retinal rod and cone degeneration” (Reynolds, 2001,). No single classification system…